1977–78 Edmonton Oilers season

WHA hockey team season

1977–78 Edmonton Oilers
Division	5th WHA
1977–78 record	38–39–3
Home record	24–15–2
Road record	14–24–1
Goals for	309 (4th)
Goals against	307 (4th)
Team information
General manager	Brian Conacher
Coach	Glen Sather
Captain	Paul Shmyr
Alternate captains	Norm Ferguson Bill Flett Al Hamilton
Arena	Northlands Coliseum
Minor league affiliate(s)	Spokane Flyers (WIHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Bill Flett (41)
Assists	Ron Chipperfield (52)
Points	Ron Chipperfield (85)
Penalty minutes	Ron Busniuk (157)
Plus/minus	Al Hamilton (+24)
Wins	Dave Dryden (21)
Goals against average	Dave Dryden (3.49)
← 1976–77 1978–79 →

The 1977–78 Edmonton Oilers season was the Oilers' sixth season of operation. The Oilers placed fifth to qualify for the playoffs, losing in the first round.

Offseason

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (July 2010)

Regular season

Final standings

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points

WHA Team	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM
Winnipeg Jets	50	28	2	102	381	270	988
New England Whalers	44	31	5	93	335	269	1255
Houston Aeros	42	34	4	88	296	302	1543
Quebec Nordiques	40	37	3	83	349	347	1185
Edmonton Oilers	38	39	3	79	309	307	1296
Birmingham Bulls	36	41	3	75	287	314	2177
Cincinnati Stingers	35	42	3	73	298	332	1701
Indianapolis Racers	24	51	5	53	267	353	1189
Soviet All-Stars	3	4	1	7	27	36	120
Czechoslovakia All-Stars	1	6	1	3	21	40	87

Schedule and results

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	L	October 12, 1977	3–7	Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	0–1–0
2	W	October 14, 1977	4–2	Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	1–1–0
3	L	October 15, 1977	2–6	@ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	1–2–0
4	L	October 19, 1977	3–6	New England Whalers (1977–78)	1–3–0
5	L	October 26, 1977	7–8 OT	@ Houston Aeros (1977–78)	1–4–0
6	W	October 28, 1977	3–2	@ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	2–4–0
7	L	October 30, 1977	2–5	@ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	2–5–0
8	L	November 2, 1977	3–6	Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	2–6–0
9	W	November 4, 1977	3–1	Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	3–6–0
10	W	November 6, 1977	7–1	Houston Aeros (1977–78)	4–6–0
11	L	November 8, 1977	3–7	@ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	4–7–0
12	L	November 10, 1977	3–5	@ New England Whalers (1977–78)	4–8–0
13	W	November 11, 1977	3–2	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	5–8–0
14	T	November 12, 1977	1–1	@ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	5–8–1
15	W	November 16, 1977	6–4	Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	6–8–1
16	W	November 18, 1977	4–3 OT	Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	7–8–1
17	L	November 20, 1977	4–5 OT	New England Whalers (1977–78)	7–9–1
18	W	November 22, 1977	4–2	Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	8–9–1
19	L	November 24, 1977	4–5 OT	@ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	8–10–1
20	W	November 26, 1977	3–1	@ New England Whalers (1977–78)	9–10–1
21	W	November 30, 1977	4–2	Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	10–10–1
22	L	December 2, 1977	5–7	Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	10–11–1
23	W	December 4, 1977	3–2	@ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	11–11–1
24	W	December 7, 1977	5–4 OT	Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	12–11–1
25	L	December 9, 1977	3–5	Houston Aeros (1977–78)	12–12–1
26	L	December 11, 1977	2–4	Houston Aeros (1977–78)	12–13–1
27	W	December 14, 1977	6–1	Czechoslovakia (1977–78)	13–13–1
28	L	December 18, 1977	2–3	@ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	13–14–1
29	L	December 20, 1977	4–6	@ Houston Aeros (1977–78)	13–15–1
30	W	December 21, 1977	5–2	Soviet All-Stars (1977–78)	14–15–1
31	W	December 27, 1977	9–3	Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	15–15–1
32	W	December 30, 1977	8–5	Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	16–15–1
33	L	January 1, 1978	1–2	Houston Aeros (1977–78)	16–16–1
34	L	January 6, 1978	1–4	Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	16–17–1
35	W	January 8, 1978	4–2	@ Houston Aeros (1977–78)	17–17–1
36	W	January 11, 1978	2–0	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	18–17–1
37	L	January 13, 1978	0–2	@ New England Whalers (1977–78)	18–18–1
38	L	January 14, 1978	4–7	@ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	18–19–1
39	W	January 15, 1978	4–3 OT	@ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	19–19–1
40	W	January 18, 1978	1–0	New England Whalers (1977–78)	20–19–1
41	L	January 20, 1978	3–5	@ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	20–20–1
42	W	January 21, 1978	3–2	@ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	21–20–1
43	L	January 22, 1978	2–5	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	21–21–1
44	W	January 25, 1978	6–2	Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	22–21–1
45	W	January 27, 1978	9–6	Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	23–21–1
46	L	January 29, 1978	3–4	Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	23–22–1
47	W	January 31, 1978	6–4	@ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	24–22–1
48	L	February 1, 1978	3–4	@ New England Whalers (1977–78)	24–23–1
49	W	February 3, 1978	6–3	@ New England Whalers (1977–78)	25–23–1
50	W	February 4, 1978	4–3 OT	@ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	26–23–1
51	L	February 5, 1978	3–4	@ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	26–24–1
52	T	February 8, 1978	6–6	Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	26–24–2
53	W	February 12, 1978	7–0	Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	27–24–2
54	W	February 14, 1978	4–1	Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	28–24–2
55	L	February 15, 1978	5–6	@ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	28–25–2
56	W	February 17, 1978	6–4	Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	29–25–2
57	W	February 19, 1978	4–3 OT	Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	30–25–2
58	L	February 22, 1978	5–6	Houston Aeros (1977–78)	30–26–2
59	W	February 24, 1978	5–4 OT	Houston Aeros (1977–78)	31–26–2
60	L	February 26, 1978	5–6	New England Whalers (1977–78)	31–27–2
61	L	March 1, 1978	4–6	Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	31–28–2
62	L	March 3, 1978	6–8	Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	31–29–2
63	W	March 5, 1978	4–3	@ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	32–29–2
64	L	March 7, 1978	3–4	@ Houston Aeros (1977–78)	32–30–2
65	L	March 9, 1978	5–6	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	32–31–2
66	L	March 11, 1978	0–2	@ Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	32–32–2
67	L	March 14, 1978	3–6	@ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	32–33–2
68	L	March 15, 1978	4–8	@ Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	32–34–2
69	W	March 17, 1978	6–2	Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	33–34–2
70	W	March 19, 1978	4–2	Cincinnati Stingers (1977–78)	34–34–2
71	L	March 22, 1978	3–5	Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	34–35–2
72	W	March 24, 1978	4–0	Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	35–35–2
73	L	March 26, 1978	3–5	@ New England Whalers (1977–78)	35–36–2
74	W	March 28, 1978	4–3 OT	@ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	36–36–2
75	L	March 30, 1978	1–5	@ Houston Aeros (1977–78)	36–37–2
76	L	March 31, 1978	2–5	@ Birmingham Bulls (1977–78)	36–38–2
77	W	April 1, 1978	4–1	@ Indianapolis Racers (1977–78)	37–38–2
78	L	April 4, 1978	1–9	@ Quebec Nordiques (1977–78)	37–39–2
79	T	April 5, 1978	4–4	New England Whalers (1977–78)	37–39–3
80	W	April 7, 1978	4–2	Winnipeg Jets (1977–78)	38–39–3

Playoffs

New England Whalers 4, Edmonton Oilers 1 – Preliminary Round

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
1	April 14	Edmonton	4–6	New England	0–1
2	April 16	Edmonton	1–4	New England	0–2
3	April 19	New England	0–2	Edmonton	1–2
4	April 21	New England	9–1	Edmonton	1–3
5	April 23	Edmonton	1–4	New England	1–4

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG
Ron Chipperfield	C	80	33	52	85	48	1	11	1
Bill Flett	RW	74	41	28	69	34	9	8	1
Blair MacDonald	RW	80	34	34	68	11	−12	7	4
Mike Zuke	C	71	23	34	57	47	1	2	3
Al Hamilton	D	59	11	43	54	46	24	6	0
Brett Callighen	C	80	20	30	50	112	5	1	0
Paul Shmyr	D	80	9	40	49	100	−9	3	0
Joe Micheletti	D	56	14	34	48	56	8	3	0
Norm Ferguson	RW	71	26	21	47	2	14	8	0
Juha Widing	C	71	18	24	42	8	10	0	1
Pierre Guite	LW	60	12	21	33	71	−7	2	0
Randy Rota	C/LW	53	8	22	30	12	11	0	0
Dave Langevin	D	62	6	22	28	90	11	1	0
Bryan Campbell	C	53	7	13	20	12	−17	2	0
Ron Busniuk	RW	59	2	18	20	157	−8	0	0
Ab DeMarco	D	47	6	8	14	20	−7	3	0
Pierre Jarry	LW	18	4	10	14	4	−1	0	0
Gary MacGregor	C	37	11	2	13	29	−2	2	0
Dave Semenko	LW	65	6	6	12	140	−4	0	0
Dennis Sobchuk	C	13	6	3	9	4	−4	1	0
Don McLeod	G	33	0	8	8	2	0	0	0
Ken Baird	D	6	2	4	6	2	0	0	0
Warren Miller	RW	18	2	4	6	18	1	0	0
Ray McKay	D	14	1	4	5	4	3	0	0
Butch Deadmarsh	LW	20	1	3	4	32	−1	0	0
Jerry Holland	LW	22	2	1	3	14	−1	1	0
Cal Sandbeck	D	11	1	2	3	39	1	1	0
Jim Troy	RW	47	2	0	2	124	−11	0	0
Rick Morris	LW	5	1	1	2	7	−7	0	1
Craig Topolnisky	D	10	0	2	2	4	−1	0	0
Dave Dryden	G	48	0	1	1	0	0	0	0
Dave Inkpen	D	19	0	1	1	16	−6	0	0
Owen Lloyd	D	3	0	1	1	4	−1	0	0
Gerry Pinder	LW	5	0	1	1	0	−1	0	0
Kevin Primeau	RW	7	0	1	1	2	−1	0	0
Chris Ahrens	D	4	0	0	0	15	−5	0	0
Ken Broderick	G	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jim Cross	LW	2	0	0	0	0	−3	0	0
Bob Falkenberg	D	2	0	0	0	0	−1	0	0
Del Hall	C	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Dale McMullin	LW	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Frank Turnbull	G	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO
Dave Dryden	2578	48	21	23	2	150	3.49	2
Don McLeod	1723	33	15	10	1	102	3.55	2
Ken Broderick	497	9	2	5	0	42	5.07	0
Frank Turnbull	60	1	0	1	0	6	6.00	0
Team:	4858	80	38	39	3	300	3.71	4

Playoffs

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	GWG
Mike Zuke	C	5	2	3	5	0	0
Paul Shmyr	D	5	1	3	4	11	0
Ron Chipperfield	C	5	1	1	2	0	0
Pierre Guite	LW	5	1	1	2	20	1
Blair MacDonald	RW	5	1	1	2	0	0
Randy Rota	C/LW	5	1	1	2	4	0
Brett Callighen	C	5	0	2	2	16	0
Dave Langevin	D	5	0	2	2	10	0
Joe Micheletti	D	5	0	2	2	4	0
Pierre Jarry	LW	5	1	0	1	4	0
Dennis Sobchuk	C	5	1	0	1	4	0
Ray McKay	D	4	0	1	1	4	0
Juha Widing	C	5	0	1	1	0	0
Ron Busniuk	RW	5	0	0	0	18	0
Ab DeMarco	D	1	0	0	0	0	0
Dave Dryden	G	2	0	0	0	0	0
Norm Ferguson	RW	5	0	0	0	0	0
Don McLeod	G	4	0	0	0	0	0
Kevin Primeau	RW	2	0	0	0	2	0
Cal Sandbeck	D	5	0	0	0	10	0
Dave Semenko	LW	5	0	0	0	8	0
Jim Troy	RW	2	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA	SO
Don McLeod	207	4	1	3	16	4.64	1
Dave Dryden	91	2	0	1	6	3.96	0
Team:	298	5	1	4	22	4.43	1

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts;

Awards and records

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (July 2010)

Transactions

Trades

Date	To Edmonton Oilers	Traded to	Traded for
June 1977	Jim Troy	New England Whalers	Brett Callighen
June 16, 1977 (1977-06-16)	Dave Dryden Brett Callighen 1st round pick in 1977 - Ron Areshenkoff 4th round pick in 1977 - Dan Clark	New England Whalers	Jean-Louis Levasseur
September 9, 1977 (1977-09-09)	Blair MacDonald Dave Inkpen Mike Zuke	Indianapolis Racers	Barry Wilkins Ed Patenaude Claude St. Sauveur Kevin Devine
September 19, 1977 (1977-09-19)	Jeff Jacques Lou Nistico	Birmingham Bulls	Chris Evans Pete Laframboise Danny Arndt
	Future considerations	Indianapolis Racers	Kevin Morrison Bill Prentice Bob Russell
	Don Tannahill Peter Donnelly	Quebec Nordiques	Future considerations
October 16, 1977 (1977-10-16)	Dave Semenko	Houston Aeros	Future considerations
November 25, 1977 (1977-11-25)	Pierre Guité Don McLeod	Quebec Nordiques	Dave Inkpen Rick Morris Warren Miller Ken Broderick
December 16, 1977 (1977-12-16)	Dennis Sobchuk Del Hall	Cincinnati Stingers	Butch Deadmarsh Dave Debol Future considerations Cash
March 3, 1978 (1978-03-03)	Pierre Jarry Chris Ahrens	Minnesota North Stars (NHL)	Future considerations

Players acquired

Date	Player	Former team	Term
August 25, 1977 (1977-08-25)	Doug Berry	Calgary Cowboys
	Ron Chipperfield
	Chris Evans
	Don Micheletti
	Joe Micheletti
	Warren Miller
	Perry Schnarr
	Steve Stoyanovich
	Kevin Devine	San Diego Mariners
	Norm Ferguson
	Randy Legge
	Kevin Morrison
	Paul Shmyr
September 9, 1977 (1977-09-09)	Butch Deadmarsh	Calgary Cowboys
September 14, 1977 (1977-09-14)	Jerry Holland	New York Rangers (NHL)
September 14, 1977 (1977-09-14)	Gary MacGregor	Indianapolis Racers
September 16, 1977 (1977-09-16)	Juha Widing	Cleveland Crusaders	2-year
October 1977	Bob Falkenberg	San Diego Mariners
October 12, 1977 (1977-10-12)	Ken Baird	Calgary Cowboys
October 12, 1977 (1977-10-12)	Frank Turnbull	Spokane Flyers (WIHL)
February 19, 1978 (1978-02-19)	Gerry Pinder	San Diego Mariners
March 1, 1978 (1978-03-01)	Dale McMullin	Spokane Flyers (WIHL)
March 1, 1978 (1978-03-01)	Craig Topolnisky	Spokane Flyers (WIHL)
March 5, 1978 (1978-03-05)	Kevin Primeau	Alberta Golden Bears (CWUAA)
March 7, 1978 (1978-03-07)	Jim Cross	St. Albert Saints (AJHL)
March 12, 1978 (1978-03-12)	Ray McKay	Birmingham Bulls

Players lost

Date	Player	New team
	Doug Barrie	Retired
	Randy Legge	Retired
	Bill Prentice	Indianapolis Racers
	Tom Simpson	Broome Dusters (AHL)
July 1977	Bobby Sheehan	Indianapolis Racers
November 1977	Frank Beaton	Birmingham Bulls
November 1, 1977 (1977-11-01)	Ken Baird	Released
November 6, 1977 (1977-11-06)	Lou Nistico	Colorado Rockies (NHL)
November 15, 1977 (1977-11-15)	Gavin Kirk	Birmingham Bulls
December 1977	Ken Baird	Winnipeg Jets
	Del Hall	Retired
	Paul Stewart	Cincinnati Stingers
March 1, 1978 (1978-03-01)	Robin Sadler	Nova Scotia Voyageurs (AHL)

Signings

Date	Player	Term
June 20, 1977 (1977-06-20)	Robin Sadler	2-year
September 6, 1977 (1977-09-06)	Norm Ferguson
September 6, 1977 (1977-09-06)	Paul Shmyr
September 13, 1977 (1977-09-13)	Dave Dryden
September 21, 1977 (1977-09-21)	Ron Busniuk	1-year
September 21, 1977 (1977-09-21)	Al Hamilton	1-year
October 10, 1977 (1977-10-10)	Warren Miller	1-year
October 12, 1977 (1977-10-12)	Ken Baird
October 23, 1977 (1977-10-23)	Dave Semenko	2-year
December 2, 1977 (1977-12-02)	Ab DeMarco	1-year
January 5, 1978 (1978-01-05)	Jim Troy
March 18, 1978 (1978-03-18)	Cal Sandbeck	2-year
March 20, 1978 (1978-03-20)	Owen Lloyd

Draft picks

Edmonton's draft picks at the 1977 WHA Amateur Draft.

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	4	Mike Crombeen (F)	Canada	Kingston Canadians (OHA)
1	11	Ron Areshenkoff (C)	Canada	Medicine Hat Tigers (WCHL)
3	24	Kim Davis (C)	Canada	Flin Flon Bombers (WCHL)
4	33	Neil LaBatte (D)	Canada	Toronto Marlboros (OHA)
4	34	Dan Clark (D)	Canada	Kamloops Chiefs (WCHL)
5	42	Rocky Saganiuk (RW)	Canada	Lethbridge Broncos (WCHL)
6	51	Julian Baretta (G)	United States	University of Wisconsin (WCHA)
7	60	Dave Hoyda (LW)	Canada	Portland Winter Hawks (WCHL)
8	69	Ray Creasy (F)	Canada	New Westminster Bruins (WCHL)
9	77	Guy Lash (RW)	Canada	Winnipeg Monarchs (WCHL)
10	85	Owen Lloyd (D)	Canada	Medicine Hat Tigers (WCHL)

Farm teams

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (July 2010)

References

"1977-78 Edmonton Oilers Statistics – Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved June 29, 2009.
"1977 WHA Amateur Draft". hockeyDB.com. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
Matheson, Jim (June 17, 1977). "Dryden, Oilers reunited in odd fashion". Edmonton Journal. Edmonton. Retrieved February 22, 2024. (Subscription required.)

External links

"1977–78 Edmonton Oilers Games". Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved May 6, 2009.

v t e Edmonton Oilers
Formerly the Alberta Oilers Founded in 1972 Based in Edmonton, Alberta
Franchise	Team General managers Coaches Players NHL WHA Captains Draft picks 1979 expansion expansion draft Seasons Current season
History	History NHL–WHA merger Records Award winners Retired numbers Broadcasters
Personnel	Owner(s) OEG Inc. (Daryl Katz, chairman) General manager Stan Bowman Head coach Kris Knoblauch Team captain Connor McDavid Current roster
Arenas	Edmonton Gardens Northlands Coliseum Rogers Place
Rivalries	Calgary Flames Los Angeles Kings
Affiliates	AHL Bakersfield Condors ECHL Fort Wayne Komets
Media	TV City Sportsnet West Radio 630 CHED
Culture and lore	Miracle on Manchester The night the lights went out in Massachusetts Blue Mile Edmonton Investors Group Mark Lewis Paul Lorieau Joey Moss Rod Phillips Oilogosphere Oil Change 2003 Heritage Classic 2016 Heritage Classic 2023 Heritage Classic "La Bamba"
Category Commons

v t e Edmonton Oilers seasons
1970s	1970–71 . 1971–72 . 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80
1980s	1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90
1990s	1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00
2000s	2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10
2010s	2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20
2020s	2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Highlighted seasons indicate Stanley Cup championship

v t e 1977–78 WHA season
Teams	Birmingham Cincinnati Edmonton Houston Indianapolis New England Quebec Winnipeg
See also	Amateur draft

Categories:

Offseason

Regular season

Final standings

Schedule and results

Playoffs

New England Whalers 4, Edmonton Oilers 1 – Preliminary Round

Player statistics

Awards and records

Transactions

Trades

Players acquired

Players lost

Signings

Draft picks

Farm teams

See also

References

External links